The Tequila Sensei Comes Clean

Once we came up for air, we realized that we had developed a certain lifestyle that was unique to us. We also discovered that we had a lot more experiences to share with you outside of our tequila niche.

Let me tell you how we got here.

Flashback

July 2012…

I dragged myself away from a crumbling marriage in my beloved Albuquerque, New Mexico.

My missions were to create a second tequila lifestyle supplement for USA Today. and to host as Associate Producer of Last Tequila Standing. The assignments required me to be in Southern California, too.

As soon as my plane landed at Ontario International Airport, the projects stalled.

I felt like Wyle E. Coyote crushed by an Acme anvil.

Then, my father suddenly fell ill and passed away from a rare form of heart and lung cancer.

All this in two months.

So much for picking up the pieces of my so-called life.

Suspended Animation

Everything is still a blur. I’m not exactly sure how many days dad spent in the hospital.

Like the movie Groundhog Day, I started each morning the same way and tried to reach a different outcome.

I failed every time.

I watched on Facebook as my Tequila Compadres enjoyed the final Spirits of Mexico event in Old Town San Diego.

I’d given anything to be there savoring agave spirits with them. Instead, I kept dad company inside the cold and impersonal ICU.

Dad passed away peacefully at home in hospice care on September 23, 2012.

I spent the following year consoling my mother who suddenly found herself widowed. Mom was married fifty-some years to the only man she had ever loved.